Jeff Troxel lays El Toro Zoysia sod: Project Spotlight

Jeff Troxel bought a home with a neglected yard in southwest Atlanta, and gave it a facelift, including a fresh carpet of El Toro Zoysia.

Meet the Homeowner

Jeff Troxel, who works as a pilot for Delta, purchased a home at the north end of Thomas Crossroads, in Coweta County Georgia.

“It’s a 30-year-old house that had been a rental for several years and had fallen into fairly significant disrepair, including the yard,” Jeff said. The previous owner renovated the interior, but the yard remained untouched. “It was pretty neglected, nothing but weeds and pine straw,” he remembered.

About the Project

Jeff possesses serious DIY skills and took on the project himself. He first built a front porch across the front of the home, and then turned his attention to the yard. Knowing the overabundance of pine needles would hinder his efforts to grow grass, Jeff had 16 pine trees removed from the front yard, and later cut down a few more himself.

To prepare for sodding, he first rented a tiller to break up the soil and a skid steer to smooth out the surface, pulling out large rocks and roots along the way. 

“I’m not an expert on a skid steer, so I had a few low spots, and I had some sizeable trees with sizeable root systems, so I put down 40 yards of topsoil and spread it,” Jeff explained. “I wanted there to be a couple inches of coverage over these low spots and roots. I knew from past experience, the sod’s going to die if it doesn’t have something underneath it to maintain the moisture.”

About the Grass

After passing NG Turf’s Whitesburg sod farm on a motorcycle ride, Jeff decided to call NG Turf for fresh sod. “I got quite the education over the phone from Deida Thompson,” he said. “The yard has a lot of tree canopy around it from my backyard and the neighbor’s yard, and different parts of it get different amounts of sunlight. We talked about the different kinds of grass available and the pros and cons, and she recommended El Toro Zoysia, mainly because of its shade tolerance.”

With help from a friend of his daughter, Jeff set about laying eight or nine pallets of sod. “My 76-year-old neighbor came from across the road and helped for a couple hours one day,” he smiled. Jeff originally planned to leave the backyard for later, but decided to go ahead and finish the whole yard while he still had the tiller and skid steer, so he purchased another eight pallets of Zoysia to finish the job.

Why NG Turf

Jeff purchased grass from other major turf suppliers over the years, but found NG Turf’s product to be superior. “The quality of every single pallet of their sod—it absolutely blew my mind,” he said. “Over time, I’ve laid dozens and dozens of pallets of sod, and I’ve never seen sod of that quality. In every pallet I’ve ever had before, there was a certain percentage you could just plan on being waste, but there was almost none of that in any pallet from NG Turf. It was phenomenal.”

Jeff and his neighbors are all pleased with the final results. “It looks dynamite. I’ve had so many compliments from people driving up and down my little two-lane road.”